How they got here: The Rangers clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on April 3. Until the last few days, they looked to be locked into a first-round series against the Washington Capitals, and it would've happened—had Washington not beaten New York on Saturday night.

The Senators could've guaranteed themselves the seventh seed by earning a single point on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, but they lost 4-2 in regulation. Another way they could've avoided the eighth seed was the Capitals losing to the Rangers. Instead, the Caps won in regulation, giving them the same amount of points as Ottawa and more non-shootout wins (38 to 35), which broke the tie.

How they got here: Boston beat the Rangers last Sunday to clinch the Northeast Division title. Given how bad the Southeast Division is, that made them the second seed by default—and despite a bit of a dip in March, the defending champs look fine. They're trying to become the first NHL team to win back-to-back championships since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.

"We've got as good a chance as anybody else to win," Bruins coach Claude Julien said after Boston's 4-3 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. "It's hard to repeat nowadays, and it certainly hasn't been done in a long time. We're going to try to achieve that."

Washington, meanwhile, held off a late charge by the Sabres for the eighth spot, benefited from the Senators' three-game losing streak to end the regular season, and actually had a chance to win another Southeast Division title until the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Panthers later on Saturday. They closed their own schedule with a decisive win over the Rangers.

How they got here: Florida managed to hold onto the Southeast Division lead and No. 3 seed despite some serious struggles down the stretch and a minus-27 goal differential on the season. They beat the Hurricanes 4-1 on Saturday night for their first division title; if they'd have lost in regulation, Washington would've won the Southeast and Florida would've played the Bruins. Instead, they're in the postseason for the first time since 2000 and playing the Devils, who closed Peter DeBoer's first season as head coach with six straight wins with a victory over Ottawa on Saturday.

Florida fired DeBoer after last season.

"When we played them the first time, I'm not going to lie, there was some emotion involved," DeBoer said about the Panthers, who failed to make the playoffs in his three seasons as head coach. "But it's another team for me now. It doesn't matter. Other than having a few more friends in the stands, that's about it."

How they got here: This series, given the Rangers' lead in the Atlantic Division and the NHL's seeding rules, seemed like a done deal for a while before it became official earlier this week. Now, after a relatively meaningless 4-2 Pittsburgh win on Saturday, the fun stuff stars.

"If the game meant something, it would have been a lot more intense," Philadelphia forward Scott Hartnell said. "We came out of it unscathed I think and now we've got to go after them and play our hearts out."

Outside of a first-period fight between Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale and Philadelphia's Harry Zolnierczyk, the game was fairly relaxed and didn't come close to matching the intensity of Philadelphia's 6-4 win last Sunday that included a brawl in the final minutes and coaches from both teams pointing fingers at the other.

"A lot of what needed to happen, happened and we survived and it's over," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said.